The soldiers and horses have not moved, but the food and grass go first.
Now, in order to attack Qingzhou, Jizhou has been preparing for nearly a year. This time, it is almost giving up everything and fighting with all its strength.
Previously, in Qingzhou, Yuan Tan and General Fenwei Jushou, who was also the supervisor of the army, jointly led 20,000 troops and horses to garrison. After Yuan Tan went to Beixin City, Jushou temporarily led the army.
Now Yuan Tan has mobilized troops and horses to open the passage to the two cities near Beixin City. If Gongsun Zan counterattacks and attacks Jushou's army in Qingzhou, he will need to bypass these two cities, as well as Hejian County in Jizhou. It is hard to say how long it will take. .
Yanzhou and Xuzhou in the south are too busy to take care of themselves and will not be able to support Qingzhou in the short term.
So this rare window of opportunity, thanks to Yuan Xi's efforts, was realized in advance.
Of course, Yuan Tan had a lot of credit for this, but Yuan Shao knew what Yuan Xi did in front of others and behind others.
In addition to the trip to Xuzhou, Yuan Xi proved that he had the ability to lead an army alone, so Yuan Shao asked Yuan Xi to participate in the attack on Qingzhou.
Normally, Tian Kai would not be able to withstand Yuan's massive attack without support, so Yuan Shao's purpose was obvious, which was to train Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi.
Yuan Tan has experienced many battles, but this is the first time for Yuan Xi to participate in such a large-scale battle to capture cities and territories. Yuan Shao's intention to cultivate Yuan Xi is clearly visible to everyone within the Yuan family.
That's why Yuan Shangcai is so angry. He is good at government affairs and is less involved in battles. Now Yuan Tan has already led the army, and Yuan Xi will lead the army alone to control Youzhou. If these two brothers don't deal with him, how will he control it in the future? Jizhou Army!
What makes Yuan Shang particularly uncomfortable is that some time ago, Yuan Shao also asked Yuan Xi to participate in the relief of the locust plague, with Tian Feng assisting him. This was clearly to improve his government capabilities.
Yuan Shang guessed that he might have gone too far in matters related to the Zhen family, which caused some dissatisfaction in Yuan Shao. Cultivating Yuan Xi in this way was also a knock on himself.
However, Yuan Xi pretended to be concerned about the overall situation from beginning to end and did not take any action. This made Yuan Shao feel that Yuan Xi was an honest man and compensated him with the position of prefect. As a result, Yuan Xi suffered a small loss and occupied the position of prefect. Big bargain!
At this time, Yuan Xi had no intention of caring about what Yuan Shang thought in Yecheng. His trip to Qingzhou was very crucial. If he performed well, his position might change when he came back, and he would be able to take charge of Youzhou affairs.
He rode on his horse and talked with Zhang He all the way, and found that the situation in Qingzhou was extremely complicated.
Tian Kai directly confronted Yuan Shao's army in the plains, and Kong Rong provided support in Beihai behind. The two sides had been fighting for two years. They often ran out of food and were forced to plunder each other's people.
Yuan Xi understood somewhat after hearing this. Yuan Tan was still out of food, but Beixin City's food and grass could still be delivered from time to time, which was considered good.
In addition, there are also tens of thousands of remnants of the Yellow Turbans, known as Taishan bandits, who are looting and taking advantage of the situation in Qingzhou.
In Donglai County in the north, Liaodong Gongsundu often harassed and occupied coastal villages with sea ships in an attempt to establish camps.
Yuan Xi was a little dizzy after hearing this. Is the situation in Qingzhou worse than he imagined?
No wonder Yuan Tan never managed Qingzhou well after he conquered it. Thieves arose in droves, and the nobles were powerful and disobedient, resulting in a messy situation.
"Jiuzhou Spring and Autumn" - "If you don't recruit wise men, you won't do it; if you don't go to the military period, you can live in the clan and party, and it won't be a crime."
This exposed Yuan Tan's shortcomings of being strong in battle formations but weak in domestic affairs. However, Yuan Xi could not think of any good solution for the time being.
The two of them took two thousand soldiers and nearly ten thousand civilians with them, and continuously requisitioned food along the way. After walking for nearly half a month, they finally arrived at Pingyuan Country as scheduled.
Yuan Tan had already arrived from Beixin City with his troops and left the camp ten miles in advance to greet Yuan Xi.
At this time, he saw that Yuan Xi and Zhang He had arrived. He rode over and said with a big smile: "Second brother, you are here!"
Yuan Xi hurried over, raised his hands on his horse and said, "Thank you for your hard work, brother."
Yuan Tan smiled and said: "I have heard everything about the second brother in Yecheng. Although the third brother is not a thing, the second brother is really up to date. Even my father is impressed."
Yuan Xiqian said: "It's all thanks to my brother's advisers who spoke kindly in front of my father, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to do anything to my third brother."
Yuan Tan said bitterly: "That guy is really too yin, and I have suffered several losses. I don't care about him for now. Let's go see Mr. Jushu first."
Yuan Tan is actually secretly worried in his heart. His second brother must have hidden his weakness a few years ago, otherwise he would not have changed so much.
Fortunately, the second brother's purpose is to adopt the family, which does not conflict with his current interests. Otherwise, if the second brother and the third brother join forces, he will have nothing to do.
When Yuan Tan saw Zhang He coming up to pay homage, he returned the favor and said, "It's been a hard work, Captain, on this trip. My brother relies on the help of Captain Du, and Tan is very grateful."
Zhang He hurriedly lowered his head and said, "I'm scared."
Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi walked side by side, with Zhang He following far behind.
Yuan Tan whispered: "Over at Beixin City, I kept the first thousand soldiers. General Qu is a man who knows soldiers. With him in charge, the three cities will have no worries."
Yuan Xi quickly thanked him.
Yuan Tan added: "Gao Lan also came with me, but there was something wrong with Master Xun.
Yuan Xi was startled, "What's wrong?"
Yuan Tan sighed: "He was originally going to follow, but a few days before departure, he talked with four maids all night, and as a result, he contracted the cold and became bedridden. I'm afraid he will have to stay in bed for several months."
Yuan Xi:.
Yuan Tan laughed loudly and briefly talked about the current confrontation between the two armies in the plain. When Yuan Xi heard that it was a siege, he immediately said: "I'm really not familiar with sieges, but I can rely on my brother to dispatch them."
Yuan Tan said with a smile: "There is no need for us brothers to go into battle for the time being. Attacking the city is extremely troublesome. We have to control the situation at the top of the city. We don't have to compete with our generals for the first victory."
As the two of them talked, they entered the camp and saw someone wearing armor waiting at the entrance of the camp.
The man was in his thirties, with a square face, a tall and straight body, and the posture of a military commander. After Yuan Tan introduced him, Yuan Xi discovered that this man turned out to be Jushou!
Yuan Xi did not expect that when he met this famous counselor for the first time, he would appear in this image.
Only then did he realize that Jushou was no ordinary counselor.
Jushou once promoted talented people and served as county magistrate. Later, he served as a special driver under Han Fu and was also appointed as a cavalry captain. This was a proper military position.
The cavalry captain has to lead the cavalry himself. Jushou can really go into battle!
No wonder Yuan Shao was given the official positions of General Fenwei and Superintendent of the Army after he received the title of Ju.
When Jushu saw Yuan Xi respectfully coming up to greet him, he quickly held Yuan Xi's arm and said, "Second Young Master is really a disgrace to me."
When Yuan Xi saw Jushou's gentle attitude, he thought, "So Jusuke is very talkative?"
As a result, the three of them walked into the camp and found a human head hanging on the flagpole inside. Several soldiers were beaten with military sticks and were wailing.
Jushu saw this and shouted: "Hit me hard and don't hold back!"
Upon hearing this, the punishment sergeant tightened the stick in his hand.
Jushou turned around and explained: "The war is about to begin. These soldiers secretly spread rumors to shake the morale of the army. Therefore, according to military law, the first culprits will be beheaded and the rest will be publicly punished."
Yuan Xi saw that he was not angry and assertive, and that he had strict military laws, but he was gentle and gentle when he spoke. He thought that Yuan Shao's counselors were all extraordinary.
But it seems that Jushou has a good attitude toward him?
Several people entered the tent, where two rows of generals were standing respectively. However, Yuan Xi saw Zhao Yun among them. He had been regarded as a partial general by Yuan Xi and came with Yuan Tan.
When Zhao Yun saw Yuan Xi, he held his hands from afar but did not move a step. This was because all the generals in the camp were standing still according to the rules and were not allowed to move without permission.
Yuan Tan wanted to ask Jushou to sit at the top, but Jushou said seriously: "Young Master is the general who is attacking Qingzhou, I am just supervising the army." After saying that, he walked to the bottom and stood still.
When Yuan Tan saw it, he didn't refuse and pointed to the vacant position of Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi understood in his heart and stood in. Zhang He also found his own position and stood still.
Yuan Tan sat down and began to ask questions.
Yuan Tan arranged everything in an orderly manner, from siege equipment to food and grass, from the distribution of soldiers to generals, to the directions of their respective troops, and the functions of the military formation they were responsible for.
Yuan Xi listened attentively. He knew that this was an excellent opportunity. As a sole commander, Yuan Tan had much more experience than himself.
As the generals came out one by one, Yuan Xi discovered that in addition to Zhang He, several famous generals from Jizhou had arrived.
The most famous among them is Yan Liang!
Yuan Xi observed the man carefully and saw that Yan Liang had a big beard and a very tall body. His belly was slightly bulging and he looked a little fat. He probably weighed about 200 pounds.
But Yuan Xi knew that this was all an appearance. The armor on Yan Liang's body weighed at least fifty or sixty kilograms, but when he came out to reply, his body was light, and when he raised his hands and feet, he seemed to be wearing a light linen garment.
A fat man who wears armor like this and is flexible, strong and agile must be a terrifying figure on the battlefield.
After listening to Yuan Tan's arrangements, Yuan Xi realized that the tens of thousands of civilians he had brought with him could also be considered soldiers!
They are old and young, not suitable for fighting as soldiers, but they still have to go to the battlefield.
Although they were not required to kill the enemy, they also played many important roles, such as carrying soil under the city walls, pushing rams and other siege equipment, rescuing injured soldiers, and even picking up arrows and weapons on the battlefield.
Yuan Xi's body suddenly shook, and he vaguely wanted to understand.
It is difficult to provide food for these tens of thousands of mouths, whether they go back or stay, and most of them are not physically fit to fight, so they can be used to fill the vacancies on the battlefield to some extent.
If you die, you can save food.
Yuan Xi shuddered at this idea, but he understood that this might be the truth.
No wonder later generations recorded that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses were needed to fight a war, and many of them were cannon fodder that couldn't even touch weapons, right?
So far, the Yellow Turban Army has numbered in the hundreds of thousands, including the old, young, women and children.
But in a real fight, the opponent doesn't care who is here. These old, weak, sick and disabled people may lose their lives on the battlefield in an instant.
No wonder there are examples of hundreds of thousands of regular soldiers defeating tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans. That's it.
Yuan Xi's body was shaking slightly, this was the real war.
Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost on both sides, and tens of thousands of lives were lost until one side was completely defeated. It was completely different from the small fight in Beixin City.
(End of chapter)
